POLS 315 Exam 3 Power Points

Civil Rights Act of 1960:

Designed to further secure the right to vote for blacks. The major provision authorizes federal courts to appoint referees who will help blacks to register after a voter-denial conviction is obtained under the 1957 CRA and after a court finding of a "pattern or practice" of discrimination against qualified voters. (Never very effective).

In 1999, Amadou Diallo (unarmed) was shot 41 times while standing in the vestibule of his Bronx apartment building. The officers claimed that:

Diallo looked somewhat like a rape suspect. The officers were indicted on second degree murder charges. More than 400 off-duty officers protested, shouting "Free the Bronx 4." The officers were acquitted

Gregory v. City of Chicago (1969):

Dick Gregory, an African American humorist and social activist, demanded that Chicago mayor Richard Daley seek the ouster of the Superintendent of Chicago's public schools because of unfair treatment of black students: Gregory led a peaceful march that first picketed the Mayor's office, and then proceeded to Daly's home five miles away. Arriving about 8 p.m., the demonstrators with the police looking on, began peacefully marching in front of the mayor's house. A thousand residents of the all-white neighborhood began shouting obscenities and throwing rocks and eggs. Sensing imminent danger, the police asked Gregory and his group to leave. They refused, and were arrested and convicted of disorderly conduct. The Supreme Court reversed their conviction saying it was the angry neighbors who had acted in a disorderly manner

Obama announced his candidacy for president of the United States on?

February 10, 2007

Stokely Carmichael replaced John Lewis as head of SNCC in 1966 and coined the phrase:

"Black Power" during the march after Meredith was shot in 1966 during a march against fear from Memphis to Jackson.

Baker v. Carr (1962)

"One man, one vote." Ordered state legislative districts to be as near equal as possible in population; Warren Court's judicial activism. The court detailed Tennessee's failure to reapportion state legislative districts since 1901 and found city voters entitled to use the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to challenge the malapportionment in federal court. The Baker case led to a number of challenges to districting patterns in other states.

The skyrocketing prison population led law professor Michelle Alexander to dub the U.S. criminal system in a book titled:

"The New Jim Crow" in which she chronicles the mass incarceration of blacks in America and the prison industrial complex

Musician Will.i.am listened to the speech and was moved and he was inspired to write and perform Obama's speech in a song titled:

"Yes We Can Song on the Internet

Redistricting flows out of the Constitution's requirement that seats in the U.S. House of Representatives be:

"apportioned" among the states according to an "enumeration" of the population - the census - to be conducted every 10 years (Article 1, Section 2).

Political scientists Joseph McCormick and Charles E. Jones have defined deracialization as:

"conducting a campaign in a stylistic fashion that defuses the polarizing effects of race by avoiding explicit reference to race-specific issues, while at the same time emphasizing those issues that are perceived as racially transcendent, thus mobilizing a broad segment of the electorate for purposes of capturing or maintaining public office

Simpson had every advantage usually reserved for whites. Most black defendants cannot afford the?

"dream team"(Robert Kardashian, Johnnie Cochran, F. Lee Bailey, Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, etc.)

The Supreme Court upheld the VRA but in 1980 held that Section 2 barred election law changes only if shown to be intentionally discriminatory. Two years later, Congress amended Section 2 by adding an:

"effects" test that prohibits any voting or election law change, nationwide, that denies or abridges anyone's right to vote on account of race or color.

Total spending by both presidential candidates surpassed the $1 billion mark, reaching roughly?

$1.7 billion

As of April 2021:

(1034) 41.2% of the death row population was black, (1061) 42.37% of the population was white, and (338) 13.5% was Latinx

The Supreme Court has played the lead role in shaping the current law on racial redistricting:

. In the 1990s, the court struck down oddly shaped, majority minority districts in Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas on the grounds that race/ethnicity was the predominant factor in drawing them. But in 1998, the court upheld a majority-Latino district in Illinois. The court ruled in 2001 that map drawers may draw a majority-minority district if done for a partisan purpose (but not racial).

traditional standards for drawing congressional districts:

1) Districts should be compact; 2) Districts should be contiguous; 3) Districts should contain communities of interest (the people should have common interests , e.g., be an urban district with colleges and universities, museums, etc. or a rural district, etc.

Investigations at the state level have uncovered rampant racial discrimination throughout the system including:

1) Inadequate defense attorneys, 2) Improper prosecutorial conduct, 3) Biased judges, 4) Unrepresentative juries

Professor Lani Guinier identifies three generations of voting rights litigation strategies:

1) lawsuits concerned with formal challenges to disfranchising laws - conceptualized the right to vote as access to the ballot and sought to establish formally fair rules for voting; 2)reconceptualized the right to vote as the right to cast a meaningful vote (the right to elect a candidate of the minority group's choice; The third generation strategy that Guinier proposes as the next step for voting rights litigation is what she conceptualizes as the right to a meaningful vote: the right to proportionate interest representation of the minority group's interest in legislative outcomes (the third generation is in the future). She outlines much of this in her book The Tyranny of the Majority (1994) (to prevent majoritarian tyranny within the legislative body).

Professor Orin Gross explains that "the panoply" of counterterrorism measures put in place since September 11, has created an alternate system of justice aimed at dealing with suspected terrorists. Some of the most egregious elements were:

1)allowing the monitoring of exchanges between suspected terrorists and their lawyers, 2)expansion of powers of the federal government, 3)racial profiling (Muslims in particular)

any candidate's chance for election depends on satisfying four conditions:

1)identifying a reliable core pool of voters whose support will put him in striking distance of election; 2) getting his core supporters to the polls; 3) picking up support as needed outside the core group; • 4) doing item 1-3 better than his opponents.

Civil War Amendments:

1. 13th Amendment ratified in 1885 2. 14th Amendment ratified in 1868 3. 15th Amendment ratified in 1870

Tactics Used to Disenfranchise African Americans:

1. Revision of state constitutions 2. Poll taxes 3. Grandfather Clause and Literacy Tests 4. The White Primary 5. Racial Gerrymandering 6. Jim Crow spreads throughout the nation 7. The Great Migration of 1915 was the mass exodus of many blacks leaving the rural South and migrating to Northern cities looking for better social conditions and economic opportunities. 8. Employment was often limited and housing was a problem because most Northern cities passed segregation ordinances restricting blacks to usually one section of the city. 9. Unsanitary housing conditions led to poor health and a high mortality rate.

Tactics used to disenfranchise African Americans

1. Revision of state constitutions 2. Poll taxes 3. Grandfather Clause and Literacy Tests 4. The White Primary 5. Racial Gerrymandering 6. Jim Crow spreads throughout the nation 7. The Great Migration of 1915 was the mass exodus of many blacks leaving the rural South and migrating to Northern cities looking for better social conditions and economic opportunities. 8. Employment was often limited and housing was a problem because most Northern cities passed segregation ordinances restricting blacks to usually one section of the city. 9. Unsanitary housing conditions led to poor health and a high mortality rate

By 2000, nearly 10 percent of all black males ages 25-29 were in prison, compared with:

1.1 percent of whites in the same age range

Across the country, the number of disenfranchised Americans has increased dramatically from:

1.17 million in 1976 to 6.1 million in 2016

In the decades between 1890 and 1910:

11 southern states undertook systematic programs that returned the election process to the status of an all-white preserve.

The final results showed that 131.2 million Americans voted in the election, compared to:

122.3 million in 2004 (an increase in 9 million votes)

Civil War Amendments

13th (1885), 14th (1868), and 15th (1870) amendments

Democrats have undivided control in?

17 states

The death penalty, which had effectively been outlawed with Furman in 1972, was reinstated starting in?

1977

Rev. Jesse Jackson ran for president in?

1984 & 1988

Congress passed the Flag Protection Act of?

1989

When was Clarence Thomas appointed?

1991

The court required the redrawing of the congressional districts in all the southern states where the districts were struck down for the:

1996 elections

the GOP majorities approved an artful plan aimed at giving Republicans an edge wherever possible. In the first election under the new plan, the GOP in 2004 gained:

21-11 control of the state's congressional delegation

Obama won:

28 states and D.C.

But by 2006, the Republican vote among Hispanics dipped to?

29% due to Republican opposition to comprehensive immigration reform

In 2050, it is estimated that the Hispanic population will reach:

29% or roughly one- third of an entire population of 438 million

Since Reconstruction, 1877, how many African Americans have ever been elected to the US Senate?

3

Republicans have undivided control in?

30 states

In 8 of the 11 Southern states of the Old Confederacy (as well as 5 other states), Obama received less than?

35% of the white vote

The results of the popular vote gave Obama 69,498,216 votes (53%) and John McCain 59,948,240 (46%). That translated into:

365 electoral votes for Obama (68%) and 173 electoral votes for John McCain (32 %)

Obama won big in Iowa with?

38% of the vote, John Edwards came in second with 29.7%, and Hillary Clinton finished a disappointing third with 29.5%

Since the 1970s, there has been a massive increase in the prison population in this country. Though blacks constitute 12.9 percent of the population, they make up almost:

40 percent (900,000) of the total 2.2 million male inmates incarcerated in this country. The national incarceration rate for blacks is 2,290 per 100,000 residents, compared to 742 for Hispanics, and 412 for whites. The Sentencing Project states that a whooping one in nine (11.7%) black males between the ages of 25 and 29 is currently in prison or in jail. Punitively policed, prosecuted, and sentenced, going to prison has become the norm for many young black males in America.

There is a growing momentum to end injustice in the administration of the death penalty in this country, Support for the death penalty is between:

49-60% - lowest in modern era

The majority of Obama's support came from white voters:

61% of Obama's supporters were white, 23% were black, and 11% were Hispanic

The black population is projected to increase from 41.1 million, 14% of the population in 2008, to:

65.7 million, or 15% in 2050

Right after the Iowa caucus, internal polling showed Obama garnering support from?

75% to 80% of black voters

Swain v. Alabama (1965):

A 19-year old black man was accused of raping a 17-year old white woman. He was convicted of rape and sentenced to death by an all-white jury after the prosecution struck all eight prospective black jurors from the jury venire (pool from which the jurors are chosen). The prosecutors admitted they often used their peremptory challenges, either alone or in cooperation with the defense, to remove all blacks from consideration for jury service. Swain showed, as a result of this practice, that no black had ever served on a trial jury in Talledega County, Alabama since 1950. The defendant argued that this total exclusion served to make out a prima facie case of discrimination. Once a prima facie case has been made, the burden of proof shifts to the State to rebut that case. The Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision affirmed the conviction. It held that the underrepresen- tation of blacks on jury panels was not sufficient in itself to make out a prima facie case of invidious discrimination. Second, the court held that the action of the prosecutor in striking all blacks did not of itself violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960):

A United States Supreme Court decision that found an electoral district with boundaries created to disenfranchise blacks violated the Fifteenth Amendment.

Libel:

A defamatory remark in written form -- newspapers, magazines, cartoons, movies, television, the internet

FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)

A special court that approves electronic eavesdropping on foreign spies

Michelle Obama presented an enigma to the press. They never before had to cover an:

African American woman as a prospective First Lady

MLK assassinated?

April 4th, 1968

There appears to have been a direct proportional relationship between the level of education and support for a candidate:

As education increased among white voters, they were more likely to vote for Obama

Symbolic voting rights:

Beginning about 1915, the Supreme Court started a long, slow process of responding to civil rights litigation by invalidating a few of the more odious disfranchisement provisions.

In its April 20, 2015 cover, Time Magazine placed the following caption on its cover:

Black Lives Matter. In an article written by David Von Drehle, he highlights some of the high profile cases from Trayvon Martin to Walter Scott, where dozens of black males have been killed by police. In February 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida, by a volunteer neighborhood watchman. As a result, people protested in cities around the country. In July 2014, Eric Garner, 43, died after being wrestled to the ground by police officers and placed in a chokehold in N.Y. City. Later that summer on Aug. 9, 2014, unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, MO. Both killings sparked protests around the country and created a frenzy on social media with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. The shooting in Ferguson sparked violent protests and rioting. On April 4, 2015, Walter Scott, 53, was shot and killed as he was fleeing from a police officer in North Charleston, S.C. The shooting was captured on video and sparked outrage nationwide. On April 12, 2014, Freddie Gray was arrested by police and sustained life-threatening injuries and died several days later in Baltimore, M.D. His death touched off protests and rioting in Baltimore over the excessive force used against Gray as well as so many other black males when they come in contact with the police. On Tuesday, November 24, 2015, Chicago officials released a graphic dashcam video of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. McDonald was killed in October 2014. The teenager was shot 16 times but the officer wasn't charged until the video was released both coming over a year after the shooting.

Leonard v. City of Columbus (1983):

Black policemen in 1971 protested discriminatory treatment within the force and by police officers. Black officers picketed the police station in a peaceful and orderly manner. Officers subsequently removed the American flag patch from their uniform and were then discharged on the grounds that removal of an official part of the uniform is conduct unbecoming an officer. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that the League members' dismissal did not follow established Columbus procedures. The court concluded that the officers were dismissed less for the act of removing the flag patch than for the symbolic meaning expressed by that action (injustice on the Court). The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded the case.

Journalist Matt Bai has noted that for almost every one of the talented black politicians who came of age in the postwar years, like James Clyburn and Charles Rangel, the pinnacle of power lay in one of two offices:

City Hall or the House of Representatives. That was as far as you could travel with a mostly black constituency

Democracy in America (1835)

Classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville on the United States in the 1830s and its strengths and weaknesses such as the tyranny of the majority; explained why republicanism succeeded in the U.S. and failed elsewhere.

Voters wanted Obama's message of change over?

Clinton's message of experience

Slavery was a contentious issue at the?

Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia, PA in 1787

Colegrove v. Green (1946):

Court declined to get involved in an Illinois reapportionment case arguing that reapportionment presented a political question and that the court was not a political body it was said by Justice Frankfurter that, "Courts ought not to enter this political thicket."

World War II had a profound effect on blacks, especially those who served in the war:

Many returned home from WWII determined to no longer accept second - class citizenship

Obama accepted the nomination in front of 84,000 people on August 28, 2008, 45 years to the day since?

Martin King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, D.C.

Gerrymandering was coined after:

Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry in 1812 and is a negative term for politically-motivated line-drawing.

Racially polarized voting

Minority voters vote for the minority candidate, while anglo voters vote for anglo candidate Makes election of minorities difficult (black votes for black white votes for white)

Shaw v. Reno (1993)

NO racial gerrymandering; race cannot be the sole or predominant factor in redrawing legislative boundaries; majority-minority districts.

The Democratic primary for 2008 was transformative because the two top contenders, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, were both firsts:

No woman or African American had ever won the nomination of a major party in the history of U.S. presidential elections

White voters challenged the district plans in several states where they were now a minority in the several districts, including:

North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas and won favorable rulings from the Supreme Court.

Sixty-eight percent of first-time voters supported?

Obama

The debates allowed Obama to be seen by many who did not know him, and what they saw was:

Obama being cool, confident, intelligent, and presidential

On November 10, 2007, the Iowa Democratic Party held its annual Jefferson- Jackson Dinner. All the major candidates spoke and?

Obama went last and electrified the crowd

Clinton and Obama came out of Super Tuesday essentially tied. For the remainder of February, ten states, one territory, and D.C. held primaries and caucuses and:

Obama won all of them (ten consecutive victories after Super Tuesday)

YouTube videos by will.i.am and "Obama Girl" helped increase:

Obama's profile early on in the campaign

Demographic Groups that Supported Obama:

Obama's victory on November 4, 2008, was historic because he attracted a winning coalition of diverse Americans that included whites, women, Latinos, blacks, Asian Americans, and young voters

Bernhard Goetz

On December 22, Goetz shot four young men who he said were threatening him on a New York City subway. Goetz almost instantly became a hero: a David whose slaying of Goliath that composites all images of black criminality expressed the fears and fantasies of many whites. Goetz was charged with attempted murder but was acquitted of the charges, though convicted of carrying an unlicensed gun.

Terry v. Ohio (1968):

On October 31, 1963, Detective McFadden, dressed in plainclothes, noticed suspicious behavior on the part of 2 men later identified as Terry and Chilton. The two had been taking turns walking up and down the same street, in Cleveland, to peer into a store window. McFadden noticed a third man, Katz. McFadden counted 24 trips by Terry and Chilton, leading the detective to conclude that the men were planning a stick-up. McFadden approached the two men and asked them their names. After they mumbled something unintelligible, McFadden turned the men so that they faced each other. McFadden found a gun in Terry's coat and discovered Chilton had a gun after patting him down. Both men were convicted by a judge at the trial court level.That conviction was ultimately appealed to the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court by an 8-1 majority, upheld the decision of the Ohio courts. The court ruled that the officer's search of the defendant met the requirements of the 4th Amendment. The search was reasonable, based on McFadden's experience and the circumstances. He had limited the search to discovering whether the suspects were carrying weapons.

Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)

Ordered House districts to be as near equal in population as possible. declared unconstitutional a Georgia congressional redistricting map that had not been revised since 1931 and had a population disparity of 550,000 between the most populated and least populated districts

Smith v. Allwright (1944)

Outlawed White primaries held by the Democratic Party, in violation of the 15th Amendment.

As an example of the violence perpetrated on blacks, Bell cites the Wilmington (NC) massacre of 1898. Bell states that the retaliatory power mounted by whites in response to rumor was so great as to give the most courageous blacks pause before taking action that would provide white mobs with actual fact:

Outraged, a mob of 400 white men set the newspaper office on fire and at least 60 blacks were killed and the local government was overthrown (a coup d'etat) and replaced by white supremacists

24th Amendment:

Poll taxes were abolished in national elections in 1964 with passage of the 24th Amendment. Overseeing the right to vote in federal elections is conferred in Art 1, Section 2 of the federal Constitution. However, the Supreme Court in several states tried to retain them for state elections.

Gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power or to reduce or increase the power of a racial or ethnic group

15th Amendment (1870):

Protects citizens from having their right to vote abridged or denied due to race, color, or previous condition of servitude

After MLK was killed, racial violence broke out all across America known as the "long hot summers.":

Riots in largely poor and black inner-city districts erupted in Los Angeles, Newark, Detroit, and about 100 other cities from 1965 through 1968. America went up in flames. King stated "riots are the voice of the unheard."

who did McCain chose to be his VP?

Sarah Palin

Since the presidential election of 2016, the Southern Poverty Law Center has reported there were 437 incidents of intimidation between the election on November 8th, and November 14th, targeting blacks and other people of color, Muslims, immigrants, the L.G.B.T. community and women:

Schoolchildren have made comments like "Now that Trump is President, I'm going to shoot you and all blacks I can find." At a school in Washington State, students chanted "build a wall" in a cafeteria. There are pictures on the internet of spray painting that says "Black Lives Don't Matter, and neither does your vote." Here at UofL, there are been some incidents with the "Thinker" statue spray painted and members of the cheer squad being suspended. Social media, particularly Twitter, have been full of racist and xenophobic harassment. Some states have no hate crime laws (AR, GA, IN, SC, and WY).

Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was a major piece of legislation to deal with the voting rights of African Americans. Several of the major provisions were as follows:

Section 2 contains a general prohibition on voting discrimination, enforced through federal district court litigation. Section 4(a) suspended literacy tests; and Section 5 prescribed a second remedy, the suspension of all new voting regulations in those "covered" jurisdictions pending review by the DOJ or the federal district court in DC to determine whether their use would perpetuate voting discrimination (nine states and parts of 7 others - mostly in the South, still fall under Section 5 and must seek preclearance before making any election changes and Section 6(b), the and assignment of federal examiners by the Attorney General (head of the DOJ) to list qualified applicants who are thereafter entitled to vote in all elections.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), has also played a major role in redistricting:

Section 5 requires that any election law changes in nine states and local jurisdictions in seven others and preclearance with the Department of Justice or a federal court in DC is needed before any election law is changed

In the general election, he faced a war hero and political maverick in?

Senator John McCain

Shelby v. County v. Holder (2013):

Shelby Co. filed suit in district court and sought both a declaratory judgment that Section 5 and Section 4(b) are unconstitutional and a permanent injunction against their enforcement. The district court upheld the constitutionality of the Sections and granted summary judgment for the Attorney General. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that Congress did not exceed its powers by reauthorizing Section 5 and that Section 4(b) is still relevant to the issue of voting discrimination. CJ Roberts delivered the opinion of the 5-4 majority. The Court held that Section 4 of the VRA imposes current burdens that are no longer responsive to the current conditions in the voting districts in question. Although the restraints made sense in the 60s and 70s, they do not any longer and now represent an unconstitutional violation of the power to regulate elections that the Constitution reserves for the states. The Court also held that the formula for determining whether changes to a state's voting procedure should be federally reviewed is now outdated and does not reflect the changes that have occurred in the last 50 years in narrowing the voting turnout gap in the state's in question.

Vieth v. Jubelirer (2004)

Since the process of creating districts can involve many political considerations none of which are enforceable by the courts under any constitutional provision, gerrymandering cannot be brought into a court of law as a justiciable issue.

there are three electoral systems employed in the U.S.:

Single member districts, multi-member districts, and at-large districts.

Speech-plus:

Speech combined with some kind of action. The "plus" may take the form of marching, singing, picketing, or chanting slogans. These actions are intended to call attention to the speech. The "speech" component of speech plus generally is constitutionally protected. The "plus" however, may be subject to reasonable regulations.

Street v. NY (1969):

Speech plus action is usually protected. A state statute made it a misdemeanor to defy, trample upon, or cast contempt upon either by words or act [any flag of the United States]. In 1966, Street heard a news report that James Meredith had been shot by a sniper in Mississippi. Street took an American flag to a street intersection, lit the flag with a match, and dropped the flag on the pavement when it began to burn. Street was heard to have stated, "We don't need no damn flag." In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a conviction by the New York Supreme Court because it was unclear whether the conviction was based on the act of burning or on the spoken words. If based on the spoken word, or combination of the act and spoken word, it was violative of rights of free expression. On remand, the Court of Appeals (the highest court in the state of New York) reversed and ordered a new trial at which the defendant was to be tried solely for his act of burning the flag. On remand, Street was retried and convicted.

The Clinton camp had planned on winning the nomination by?

Super Tuesday

Guinn v. United States (1915)

Supreme Court found the grandfather clause in an Oklahoma law unconstitutional. This was an early victory for the NAACP in its long fight in the courts to strike down segregation. The battle was not finally won until 1954's Brown v. Board of Topeka decision. This case and Buchanan v. Worley illustrated the early work done by the NAACP of fighting segregation in the courts.

Rucho v. Common Cause (2019)

Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering claims are political questions that must be left to state courts and are outside the jurisdiction of federal courts.

Georgia v. Ashcroft (2003):

The Georgia state Senate devised a redistricting plan using the 2000 census data that aimed to unpack the most heavily concentrated majority-minority districts where the black population exceeded 60 percent. The plan aimed at increasing the influence of black voters statewide by creating three more districts where the black voting age population exceeded 50 percent and five additional districts where the black voting age population fell between 30 and 50 percent. The district court denied preclearance under Section 5, finding the plan retrogressive because it diminished the ability of blacks to elect candidates of their choice in three districts. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case for a rehearing, holding the District Court did not apply the proper retrogression standard (Beer v. U.S). O'Connor expanded the definition of retrogression from Beer to be broader than the ability of a racial minority to elect a candidate of their choice. O'Connor explained that was one factor in a Section 5 inquiry, but it was not dispositve or exclusive.

Furman v. Georgia (1972):

The Supreme Court first visited the issue of racial discrimination in the administration of the death penalty, if only indirectly, in Furman v. Georgia (1972). The case was the consolidated appeals of 3 defendants sentenced to death, involving a challenge to capital punishment in cases or murder and rape on the grounds that application of the death penalty constitutes "cruel and unusual" punishment in violation of the 8th and 14 Amendments. All three defendants were African American; the two rape victims and the homeowner were white. Two of the defendants were mentally impaired; all had been represented at their trials by court-appointed attorneys. In a 5-4 (split decision) the court reversed the death penalties in the cases before it. Three of the justices found that the manner in which the state statutes allowed the death penalty to be applied made it excessive, cruel, and unusual punishment and therefore in violation of the 8th and 14th Amendments. Justice Douglas argued concerning the 8th Amendment (in a concurring opinion) that our conception of what is cruel and unusual expands and evolves as society becomes more enlightened

Thornburgh v Gingles (1986):

The Supreme Court had to decide whether multimember (legislative) districts had the effect of diluting minority voting strength when a group of black voters was sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district. The court ruled that a minority legislative district should be drawn if: 1. The minority group is sufficiently large and compact to be a majority in a single member district; 2. The minority group is politically cohesive; 3. The white majority votes sufficiently as a bloc to defeat any minority candidate.

Morse v. Frederick (2007) aka Bong Hits for Jesus:

The Supreme Court held that schools can suppress student speech at a school-sanctioned or school-sponsored event that advocates or promotes the use of illegal drugs. Frederick, a high school student, unveiled a 14-foot banner when the Olympic torch passed his high school in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002. The teacher confiscated the banner and suspended Frederick for ten days. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, outlined three points leading to the conclusion: 1)Student speech at a school-sponsored event; 2)The banner promotes illegal drug use; 3)Because the words advocate drug use, which is against school policy, they are not protected.

City of Mobile v. Bolden (1980):

The Supreme Court ruled that according to Section 2 of the VRA of 1965 it was not enough for minorities to prove that a districting plan had a discriminatory effect, unless there was evidence that it was created with discriminatory intent as well.

Davis v. Bandemer (1986):

The Supreme Court ruled that redistricting plans may be challenged in a court of law for discriminating against a political party (ripe). A political party must prove however, that the other party intended to discriminate and that the plan resulted in actual discrimination.

Texas v. Johnson (1989):

The case began in 1984. Gregory Johnson was from New York City and a member of the Communist Youth Brigade and he went to Texas around the time of the Republican National Convention in the summer of 1984. He stole a flag and he burned it. He was charged and convicted of violating a Texas flag desecration law. He challenged it saying it was a First Amendment violation of symbolic speech. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with him and overturned his conviction.

In 1957, Black residents of Tuskegee, AL, were gerrymandered outside of the city limits by a 28-sided polygon:

The city had previously looked like a square. The drawing removed all but four or five blacks of the 400 black residents while not removing a single white voter.

racial gerrymandering

The drawing of election districts so as to ensure that members of a certain race are a minority in the district; ruled unconstitutional in Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960).

Civil Rights Act of 1957:

The first civil rights law passed by Congress since Reconstruction, designed to secure the right to vote for blacks. It empowered the Department of Justice (DOJ) to seek court injunctions against any deprivation of voting rights and authorizes criminal prosecutions for violations of an injunction. It established a Civil Rights Division in the DOJ and created a bipartisan Civil Rights Commission to investigate civil rights violations and to recommend legislation ( very effective).

Reapportionment

The process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census.

The coalition of voters that Jackson amassed became the prototype for the type of voters Obama would bring together. Both candidates started with blacks as their base and built on that:

Their white support was drawn disproportionately from the young, well-educated, and high-income group. The key distinction was the size of Obama's support among educated, middle-class, white Americans

Redepmtion

This was a period of violence, intimidation, and economic pressure used to disenfranchise blacks after the Civil War. White Southerners were determined to restore the South to its antebellum ways. But they chose the term "Redemption" from Christian theology according to historian

South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966):

Upheld Voting Rights Act of 1965 which required some states with histories of discrimination to get pre-clearance for voting laws for all types of elections

Virginia v. Black (2003):

Virginia had a state statute that read in part, "Any such burning of a cross shall be prima facie (at first view) evidence of an intent to intimidate a person or group of persons." Three whites were charged with violating the state statute. They were convicted by the trial court and the three defendants appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court. That court held that the statute was impermissible content-based discrimination that was no different from the Minnesota statute in R.A.V. The court said that the prima facie evidence provision was overbroad. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari. Justice O'Connor, who delivered the majority opinion stated that upholding the constitutionality of a statute banning cross-burning with the intent to intimidate is consistent with the First Amendment and the court's analysis in R.A.V.

you deduct the following from a minority population of 65% to guarantee a majority:

Voting age population: 5 percent; Registered voters: 5 percent, and Turnout: 5 percent. So, 65 percent minus 15 percent equals 50 percent.

McCleskey v. Kemp (1987):

Warren McCleskey, a black man, was convicted in 1978 of murder a white police officer in Georgia. A jury of 11 whites and one black convicted McCleskey of murder and sentenced him to the death penalty. After state appeals, McCleskey filed a petition for federal habeas corpus, arguing that his sentence was a product of racial discrimination and violated the 8th and 14th Amendments. During the course of the trial, McCleskey produced a sophisticated statistical study by Professor David Baldus (the Baldus study - an empirical analysis of Georgia homicide cases from the 1970s ) which showed a disparity in the imposition of the death sentence in Georgia based on the race of the murder victim, and, to a lesser extent, the race of the defendant. In a 5-4 split decision, the court stated that McCleskey's statistical evidence did not state a prima facie (at first view) claim under the due process or equal protection clause of the 14th or the 8th Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment).

Unlike his predecessors, Obama and the First Family have been seen around?

Washington on numerous occasions

Women are caught in the classic double bind:

Women as political candidates are expected to portray the feminine characteristics ascribed to them in their daily roles as mother, wife, etc. Political candidates, however, are expected to be aggressive, tough, strong, and rational

The political realities are that the successful black politician who wants to win office statewide must appeal to?

a broader base of Americans beyond blacks

Obama had become president in the midst of two wars:

a deepening global recession, rising healthcare costs, high unemployment rates, and a crumbling infrastructure

White primary

a discriminatory device used in some states to exclude blacks from voting in primary elections on the ground that political parties are private associations ( which they asserted were not regulated by the state, so they could discriminate)

The most common type of legislative districting used in this country is the single-member district:

a district drawn so as to enable the voters residing there to elect one representative to the legislative body

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA)

a federal statute that eliminated literacy tests as a qualification to vote, greatly increasing African Americans' access to the ballot box

Voting Rights Act of 1965

a law designed to help end formal and informal barriers to African-American suffrage

The Poll Tax:

a levy to be paid as a qualification for voting based on wealth. The tax had little revenue-raising value but was a deterrent because deadlines for payments of the tax were set at times and places inconvenient for black voters, as well as poor white voters.

In 1948, Truman signed an executive order (force of law) (EO 9981) integrating the Armed Services. This would serve as:

a model for the rest of the country

Jackson, who had formed Operation PUSH in 1971, had put together the Rainbow Coalition:

a multiracial organization consisting of blacks, whites, Hispanics, and Native Americans to fight poverty and other issues nationwide

Innocence Project

a non-profit legal organization that is committed to exonerating wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing and to reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

Types of racial gerrymandering include cracking and packing. Cracking occurs when:

a substantial minority population, large enough to constitute one or more minority districts, is divided among several majority districts, which effectively dilutes minority voting strength.

Limited voting system:

a voter casts one vote per candidate to fill a number of seats, but the total number of votes one may cast is less than the total number of seats to be filled. For example, a voter may be allowed to vote for two people when there are three seats to be filled. This limitation is designed to prevent the majority from sweeping up all the seats.

cumulative voting system:

a voter has a given number of votes they may distribute among candidates in any way they choose. The number of votes is usually equal to the number of seats to be filled, but this need not be the case. So, if a voter in this system has a total of three votes, she may give one vote to each of the three votes, or all three to one candidate, or two to one candidate and one to another

preference voting:

a voter ranks the candidate in order of preference, putting a number besides each candidate's name for as many candidates who are on the ballot. In the first round, candidates with a set minimum number of first-choice designations win a seat. Votes they receive in excess of the required minimum are reallocated in accordance with that voter's second-choice designation. After this reallocation, any candidates with the required minimum number of first-choice votes win a seat.

In 1901, Congress enacted specific criteria for congressional districts which include:

a) contiguous, single-member districts, compactness, and compact. The provisions went unenforced. Since 1941, the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives has been set at 435.

Professor Melville Nimmer believes that a basic problem in these cases arises from the judicial effort to:

accord symbolic speech less protection than is given verbal speech.

Symbolic speech:

actions and objects replace words in conveying ideas or emotional appeals. The courts have found some forms of symbolic speech constitutional but have restricted others.

. LBJ's Great Society programs were significant in the:

advancement of the cause of blacks in this country and expanded the role of government in the everyday lives of citizens

Obama ran well in suburban melting pots:

affluent counties that contain large numbers of both well-educated whites and racial minorities

Ahmaud Arbery case in Brunswick, GA:

after two and one-half weeks a jury was selected. The population in the Glynn County (the residents of the jury) includes 11 white people and one black person - 26% of the population is black , 69% is white. A special prosecutor from the Cobb Co. D.A.'s office (outside of Atlanta) tried to challenge the defense attorney's removal of 8 black potential jurors. (citing Baton v. Kentucky) to strike people from the jury solely because of race. Judge Timothy Walmsley said the defense appeared to be discriminatory in selecting the jury but that the case could go forward. "This court has found that there appears to be intentional discrimination," Walmsley said Wednesday. Of the 16 potential jurors, only one is black.

By 1850, the suffrage (right to vote) requirement was expanded but only for:

all white males. Only in New England, could blacks vote on an equal basis with whites.

Wiggins v. Smith (2003):

an inmate on death row for over 7 years, was convicted of drowning an elderly woman in her apartment. At the sentencing phase of his trial, his lawyers did not discover or present mitigating evidence (conditions out of mercy or fairness that may reduce the penalty) about their client. The defendant had been abused as a child in foster care (beaten, raped, burned, etc.) . In a 7-2 majority opinion, that court stated that there was a reasonable probability that a competent attorney, aware of this history, would have introduced it at sentencing in an admissible form

Under AEDPA (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act 1996), condemned prisoners face:

an unprecedented one-year statute of limitations for bringing a habeas claim

Sympathy for these demonstrations had been drained by concern over urban riots and the sense that federal laws to address black grievances had been enacted. As a result of the riots, there was an:

anti-civil rights backlash. Richard Nixon would win the presidency in 1968 on a platform of "law and order." Southern whites began migrating to the Republican Party in droves.

In spite of his conservative record, many black leaders were reluctant to criticize him because?

any representation is better than no representation

Team Obama approached the campaign with a delicate task:

appeal to white voters without alienating black voters

As an extremely intelligent and assertive black female, she was quickly labeled:

as an "angry" black woman. Nothing unusual there; pop culture and television often stereotype black women as such

MLK death:

assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray. The day after he made a speech that foreshadowed his death.

Defamation is the general term for:

attacks on another person's good name and reputation. Defamation can either be written or spoken, as in public speech or on the radio or internet, it is slander

Racial themes are still being used in the South in sanitized forms that:

avoid overt references to race by using code words and other concealed messages that appeal to lingering feelings and white anti-black sentiment

. FDR was able to create a coalition in 1932 centered around anger over the Great Depression that drove a number of groups:

back into the Democratic Party

Political scientist Scott Page asserts that within 40 years, no single racial groups will?

be a majority of the population

All previous 43 presidents had been white males. But Barack Obama, born of an African father from Kenya and an American mother from Kansas:

became the 44th president

For the last few decades the states in the Northeast and Midwest have?

been losing House seats and states in the South and West have been gaining House seats

Hispanics preferred Obama to McCain in the 2008 election by:

better than 2-to-1 and increased their share of the vote from 8% in 2004 to 9%

Beginning with the post-1990 redistricting cycle, the DOJ pressured states into drawing majority-minority districts to protect?

black and Latino voting rights and allow them the chance to elect a candidate of their choice.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton

black candidates running for Pres. as grievance candidates

Obama's biggest race problem initially was not with white voters, but was with?

black voters

The treatment of the most traditional First Amendment activity - speech - has also had significant impact on:

blacks and other historically oppressed groups

. The New Deal coalition included a Southern white component that denied?

blacks the right to vote

Obama's coalition was made up of:

blacks, college-educated whites, and young voters

Minority groups scoff at the criticism of racial line-drawing as gerrymandering. They argue that oddly shaped districts (that lack compactness) are often the only way to:

bring together communities of interest

At 11:00 p.m. eastern standard time, when the polls closed on the West Coast, all the networks simultaneously:

called the election for Obama

In April 2007, Clinton announced that she had raised $26 million dollars during the first quarter of 2007, but:

campaign matched it, having raised $25 million dollars during the quarter.

Obama

candidate who just happenend to be black

Prior to Obama's presidential victory in 2008, Bill Clinton in 1992 had become the only Democratic presidential candidate since the Reagan era to?

carry any Southern states

Descriptive representation describes the extent to which legislators accurately reflect the?

characteristics of their district or state. An examination of characteristics of members of Congress by age, race, gender, education, and occupation shows that their characteristics are by no means parallel to that of the general population. Therefore, the representative must focus on symbolic representation

This decision had a huge impact on the general election campaign. McCain was limited to $84.1 million to spend in the general election. Obama raised:

close to $500 million in the fall contest

Obama's campaign director of online organizing created a social networking site similar to Facebook and MySpace. It allowed masses of volunteers to self- organize and to communicate through their own social networking site. Other candidates for president were successful in using the Internet for social networking and fundraising, with none was able to?

compete with Obama

Formal representation is based on the?

consent of the governed

Professor Lani Guinier asserts the effectiveness of the intergroup contact hypothesis is not supported by empirical evidence within the context of small, informal deliberative bodies. She attributes this to:

continuing white prejudice with decisional rules (such as) that do not require members of the legislative majority to obtain minority support which often results in minority and dissenting views being ignored.

Members of Congress who know that a president is popular back home have more incentive to:

cooperate with a president's program

Justice Marshall and Brennan went farther than any of the other justices, making a strong case that the death penalty is, in all circumstances:

cruel and unusual punishment (and excessive bail) have been incorporated

the 2021 round of redistricting will be the first since the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 where Section 5 will not be in effect. Numerous states are drawing their redistricting plans currently and political observers are?

crying foul and arguing that some states are once again engaging in racial gerrymandering.

The disputed presidential election of 1876, settled by the Hayes-Tilden Compromise, spelled the:

death knell for African American electoral success in the South

Political office holding:

decreases feelings of political alienation and increases feelings of political efficacy among group members

Even after factoring in 39 nonracial variables, Professor Baldus found that:

defendants charged with killing white victims were still 4.3 times as likely to receive a death sentence as defendants charged with killing blacks

Section 4 of the VRA:

defines the eligible districts that ones that had a voting test in place as of November 1, 1964 and less than 50% turnout for the 1964 presidential election. Such districts must prove to the DOJ or a three-judge panel of a Washington, D.C. district court that the change neither has the purpose nor will have the effect of negatively impacting any individual's right to vote based on race or minority status.

The Internet allows politics to now be about reaching out to every man and woman who can donate which is a sign of?

democratization of political contributions and campaigns

Obama decided to address the issue front and center by giving a speech in Phil., P.A. on race on March 18, 2008. After the speech, Wright still would not go away. Finally, Obama had to?

denounce his association with Wright

Opponents of deracialization argue that?

deracialization is an approach that fails to push for more extensive policy changes that would be of greater benefit to the black constituency

. The cornerstone of Obama's strategy for winning the White House was to run a?

deracialized campaign

When tapes of Rev. Wright's sermons emerged on YouTube in March 2008, they threatened to?

derail Obama's campaign

Two major debates in representation theory are:

descriptive versus substantive representation and the delegate versus trustee type of representation

Opponents of Voter ID laws, enacted or being considered in numerous states, maintain that they will:

discourage voting and in particular black and Latino voting for reason similar to those that led to the invalidation of poll taxes. In 2021, 19 states have passed new Voter ID laws, although some laws are being challenged in court. State laws vary widely as to the kinds of new voter laws (as a result of the 2020 election).

The justices identified the constitutional violation, but ignored its real harm:

discrimination against racial minorities

Currently, 21 states now have some form of redistricting commissions or boards with the responsibility of?

drawing legislative districts; seven also have the responsibility of drawing congressional districts

14th Amendment (1868):

due process and equal protection

When the U.S. was founded in 1776, the majority of African Americans were?

enslaved

From the admission of Maine in 1820 until the end of the Civil War

every new state restricted suffrage to whites in its constitution

The Fifth Amendment provides that every citizen has the right to a grand jury indictment at the federal level. The grand jury:

examines accusations against persons charged with a crime and, if the evidence warrants, makes formal charges on which the accused persons are later tried (it is not a trial). The grand jury meets in secret and examines evidence presented by the prosecuting attorney.

The highly publicized "Scottsboro cases" in the 1930s resulted in the Supreme Court?

extending the right to counsel in state capital crimes.

Heartened by the lesson of the Gomillion experience that the needs of justice might require invasion of the political thicket regardless of the inevitable thorns, the Supreme Court in the very next term determined that apportionment issues were justiciable by:

federal courts to review charges of arbitrary and capacious state action under the 14th Amendment.

When black mayors began to win election to City Hall across America:

federal funding dried up, white flight to the suburbs drastically decreased city budgets, and corruption was the norm in city politics

Police departments across the country have come under intense public scrutiny because of police brutality and fatal shootings in minority neighborhoods. Angry citizens from Los Angeles to Chicago and Cincinnati to New York City have voiced their opinions by:

filling streets to protest the lack of police accountability.

According to political scientist Hanna Pitkin, representation can be divided into four categories:

formal, descriptive, symbolic, and substantive

Indict:

formally charge someone with a crime, they have probable cause that a crime occurred

Of the 42 congressional districts represented by blacks in the U.S. House of Representatives:

four are majority white and the rest are either majority black or majority minority

In the face of a rising tide of racism on university campuses and as a result of demands by minority students, many schools have enacted:

free speech policies which limit students' rights to verbally harass blacks and members of other target groups. This may be because universities have a responsibility to all of its students to create a safe environment where learning may take place. Recent incidents around the country include: Univ. of Oklahoma and the SAE fraternity, Univ. of Missouri, and Yale U.

Developing biracial and multiracial coalitions are mandatory to?

gain racial crossover voting

defmation

general term for attacks on another person's good name and reputation

They argue that black candidates' issues appear to be race-neutral to avoid?

giving white voters the impression that they are only interested in representing blacks

This alleged media bias caused Clinton to:

go negative toward Obama in some of her television advertisements

. Only two African Americans have been elected?

governor

Educated and upper income voters are both:

growing in number and becoming more Democratic

Article IV:

guarantees the right of self- government for each state (a republican form of government)

The stated objective of AEDPA was to:

hasten executions, but the resulting injustice has not been limited to inmates facing death sentences. Anyone unconstitutionally convicted of a crime faces new barriers to habeas relief

Big cities are primarily Democratic, while the suburbs and rural areas:

have been Republican

Whites were drawn to Obama because:

he represented a new style of black leadership; blacks were drawn to Obama because of the shared history of oppression of blacks in this country

Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966):

held that the use of the poll tax in state elections was an unconstitutional denial of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment because it required payment as a condition for voting. Voter qualifications are for the state to determine, but the state may not draw arbitrary lines, and affluence or the payment of the poll tax bears no reasonable relationship to qualification for voting.

Many blacks were supporting Hillary Clinton because?

her husband had served two terms as president (1992-2000) and had been extremely popular with the black community

Although minority votes played a key role in Obama's victory, he won because of:

his support from white voters

The creation of majority minority districts was a strategy that the DOJ employed after the 1990 census all across the South to help:

increase the number of minorities in Congress

Baldus Study:

indicates that black defendants who kill white victims have the greatest likelihood of receiving the death penalty. From his review of over 2,000 cases in GA, Professor Baldus gathered data which showed that the death penalty was imposed in 22 %of the cases involving black defendants and white victims, 8% of the cases involving white defendants and white victims, 3% of the cases involving white defendants and black victims, and only 1% of the cases involving black defendants and black victims

Batson v. Kentucky (1986):

involved a burglary case against a black defendant. The prosecutor used his peremptory challenges to strike all four black jurors to obtain an all-white jury. The defendant invoked the 6th Amendment to avoid the dictates of Swain and the 14th Amendment (right to a jury drawn from a cross-section of the community) and under the 14th Amendment's equal protection under the law. In a 7-2 decision, the Court held that, while a defendant is not entitled to have a jury completely or partially composed of people of his own race, the state is not permitted to use its peremptory challenges to automatically exclude potential members of the jury because of their race which is guaranteed by the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Peremptory Strikes

is a right in jury selection for the attorneys to reject a certain number of potential jurors without stating a reason.

Pure speech:

it is the spoken word alone. It includes face to face discussions, speeches at public meetings, telephone conversations, classroom debates, television, radio, and internet talk. It is generally protected speech.

Civil Rights Act of 1964:

it outlawed arbitrary discrimination in voter registration and expedited voting rights suits (not very effective).

The Obama campaign wanted the support of Hip Hop because of its energy and enthusiasm, and financial assistance, but:

it wanted to control its message as well

In Alternative Ways Out: A Remedial Road Map for the Use of Alternative Electoral Systems as Voting Rights Act Remedies, Steven Mulroy agrees with Lani Guinier that traditional winner-take-all elections, serve to dilute the votes of members of minority groups. He argues that:

jurisdictions attempting to correct minority vote dilution should employ alternative electoral systems, each of which uses special voting rules designed to enhance the ability of voting minorities to obtain representation: limited voting, cumulative voting, and preference voting.

One form of old media, black radio, emerged as a:

key player in the election, They provided a counterbalance to right-wing conservative talk radio

Obama raised millions from online supporters, many in payments of:

less than $50

In 1994, Congress reacted to the crack boom and crime wave by passing the largest anti-crime bill in U.S. history, mandating:

life imprisonment without parole after three violent or drug-trafficking convictions and providing nearly $10 billion for prisons

Descriptive, or proportional, representation says that representatives should:

look like but not necessarily act for the constituency

The majority of black elected officials in this country are elected from either:

majority black or majority-minority (black and Latino) local, state, or federal legislative districts

The campaign ran ads in which Obama spoke directly to the camera for long periods, done to:

make the darker skin tones of Obama's face more familiar and reassuring to whites unaccustomed to the sight of a black man running for the nation's highest office

In addition to the Supreme Court saying that malapportionment (the creation of electoral districts with divergent ratios of voters to representatives) raised a constitutional question, it also:

mandated congressional and legislative districts to be equal in population within each state

In 1948, the Democratic Party supported a strong civil rights plank in its platform which caused:

many Southern whites to bolt from the party and supported Strom Thurmond's Third-party candidacy for president.

In his text, No Equal Justice, David Cole tells of the sharply different reactions to the verdict in the OJ Simpson case, reactions that almost uniformly broke down along racial lines:

many blacks were pleased with the verdict, while whites were mostly outraged

The remedial goals of the Voting Rights Act, argue for voting rights remedies that result not only in desegregation of legislative and executive positions but also in:

meaningful access to participation and power.

public office has a substantial "symbolic" meaning for?

members of a historically excluded group

In 38 states most ex-felons automatically regain the right to vote upon the completion of their sentence. In 9 states, ex-felons must apply to have voting rights restored. Given the disproportionate number of minorities represented in state and federal prisons, this type of voter disfranchisement impacts:

minority voters' ability to participate in our political process.

The new Black Power movement, represented by Carmichael and CORE leader Floyd McKissick, rejected the:

moderate integrationist aims of the civil rights movement and advocated separatism from whites (pushed whites out of SNCC) and, where necessary, self-defense. Black Panther Party for Self-Defense founded in 1966.

While black and white growth has slowed considerably, by 9% and 2% respectively, Hispanics have grown by?

nearly one-third since 2000

Asian and other minorities, although just 5% of voters, gave Obama:

nearly two-thirds of their votes

Single-member districts were designed to provide for representation of:

neighborhoods, regions, or areas of the governmental entity.

Blum, head of Project on Fair Representation, however, acknowledges that the Voting Rights Act requires some consideration of race, nationwide, to prevent what is termed retrogression:

new districts that reduce the ability of minority groups to elect their preferred candidate

His campaign increased turnout, particularly among voters younger than 30, connecting with them by using:

new media, the Internet, to create a new movement of supporters who organized, mobilized, and turned out at the polls

By 1969, there were nine blacks serving in the U.S. Congress:

none from a southern state and all Democrats representing urban districts

In UJO, Judge Frankel dissented from the 65 percent nonwhite district because he noted the?

number of black mayors elected around the country by mainly white majorities, to underscore the electorate's willingness to erase race as the sole test for selecting leaders.

Political scientists Luebke and Himmelstein have defined racial campaign appeals as?

occurring in a campaign if one candidate calls attention to the race of his opponent or his opponent's supporters or if media covering a campaign disproportionately call attention to the race of one candidate or of that candidate's supporters

The November 2010 elections gave Republicans undivided control:

of 25 state legislatures plus Nebraska's partisan unicameral body. Democrats control 16, while eight other states have divided party control between two chambers

This country has a two-tier criminal justice system:

one for the affluent and one for everyone else

Grandfather clause and literacy tests: in 1895, SC introduced a means by which an individual could register to vote without taking a literacy test:

only if he or she was a voter in 1867 or a descendant of a person who had voted in 1867. Literacy tests, a voting requirement used to determine fitness for voting by means of reading, writing, or understanding an examination. The intent was to prevent blacks from registering while allowing whites to do so.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin

2 Live Crew became the center of controversy when its first album became the first album to be judged obscene by a federal court. Bell argues that society has tolerated:

outrageous and obscene music by white artists

the response of the courts has been to deny relief on the grounds that:

patterns of racial discrimination are insufficient for the case at hand

In a criminal case, the state is always the?

plaintiff - the state has a duty to protect its citizens from harm (states have a constitutional duty to protect public safety - reserved powers of the 10th Amendment)

According to Bell, it must now be obvious that the various forms of "enhancing" opportunities for blacks to gain racial representation are subject to many forms of:

political and economic dilution.

Obama represents a new style of African American politician:

post-civil rights era and not as polarizing to white voters as some members of the civil rights era such as Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton

The new Democratic realignment reflects the shift that began decades ago toward a:

post-industrial economy centered in large urban-suburban metropolitan areas devoted primarily to the production of ideas and services rather than material goods

Both proponents and opponents of descriptive representation contend that proper representation is:

predicated upon its resemblance to the population

In 1972, Democrat Shirley Chisholm, a member of the CBC from New York City, and the first black woman to ever serve in Congress, ran for

president of the United States, becoming the first African American of a major political party to run for president

Clustered in the regions that have undergone this economic transition are three main groups that constitute the backbone of the new Democratic majority:

professionals (college-educated workers who produce ideas and services); minorities (African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans); and women (particularly working, single, and college-educated women)

Section 5 of the VRA:

prohibits eligible districts from enacting changes to their election laws and procedures without gaining official authorization from the U.S. DOJ.

Prosecutorial Discretion - Professor Angela Davis examines prosecutorial discretion at length in an essay titled "Prosecution and Race." She argues that thru the exercise of prosecutorial discretion:

prosecutors make decisions that not only often predetermine the outcome of criminal cases, but also contribute to the discriminatory treatment of blacks as both criminal defendants and victims of crime. This discretion, she argues, gives them more power with any other criminal justice officials with no accountability to the public they serve

In a criminal case, the prosecution must?

prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (90%+)

In a civil case, the plaintiff must only?

prove that a preponderance of the evidence (more than half)points toward liability

Many state legislatures then tried to rewrite their laws in ways that the court would accept:

providing safeguards and standards that would apply the death penalty equitably

Obama ultimately chose not to accept?

public financing and McCain chose to accept public financing

In 1981, the Anti-defamation League (an international Jewish NGO) developed the first model hate crimes law that increased:

punishments for bias-motivated crimes, which were defined as attacks on institutions or individual assaults that were motivated by race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender.

Rather than bargain exclusively with leaders in Congress, the president?

rallies broad coalitions of support as though undertaking a political campaign

After Furman v. Georgia, Georgia was the only state to impose capital punishment for?

rape

Batson has done little to eliminate the use of race-based peremptory strikes. Attorneys simply:

re-characterize their race-based strikes as race-neutral

Barack Obama was uniquely poised to transcend race and party and was the first African American candidate with a?

realistic chance of winning the presidency in the U.S. of A.

The USA Patriot Act makes it easier for federal officials to look into an individual's?

records held by third parties and to make secret searches of personal property without the knowledge of the owner.

The modern era of redistricting began in the 1960s when the Supreme Court intervened to force an end to state legislatures' decades long neglect to:

redraw legislative and congressional district boundaries to reflect population changes

His promise of racial reconciliation resonated across:

regions and races

Many icons of the civil rights movement were:

reluctant to back Obama

Barlett v. Strickland:

required the redrawing of a once majority black legislative district that was redrawn in a way to prevent the black population from falling below the threshold needed to form a crossover (influence) district. The court ruled in a divided decision that a racial or ethnic minority could not challenge a redistricting map as impermissible "vote dilution" under the VRA unless it made up a majority of the districts population

Congress in 1842 outlawed at-large elections for Congress by:

requiring that each member be elected by a separate member of contiguous territory. At-large districts are used in the U.S. House of Representatives in states that only have one congressional district.

In 2015, outgoing Governor Steve Beshear issued an executive order restoring voting rights to about 180, 000 former felons in Kentucky (to the most non-violent ex-felons who had served their time but did not have their voting rights automatically restored. When Governor Bevin took office in 2016, he:

rescinded Beshear's executive order that granted voting rights to non-violent felons.

When Andy Beshear was elected governor and took office in 2019 he:

rescinded Bevin's executive order and restored voting rights to 140,000 former felons

10th Amendment:

reserves all rights not expressly granted to the federal government to the individual states

Tinker v. Des Moines Ind. School District (1969):

several teenage students wore black armbands to school as a silent protest of the Vietnam War. The court stated that just as in Tinker, school property may not be declared off limits for expressive activity by students - in this case the public sidewalk adjacent to school grounds. But expressive activity may be prohibited if it materially disrupts class work or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others.

In 1997, Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant, was abused physically by several members of the New York City police department. He was:

sodomized with the wooden handle of a toilet plunger

Since Obama is proof that we have entered a post-racial era:

some programs designed to benefit blacks may lose their appeal

Obama, while speaking to a private group in San Francisco, stated that:

some voters in P.A. were bitter and would cling to guns and religion because jobs fell through during the Clinton and Bush Administrations

Kentucky has the highest African American disenfranchisement rate in the country, with one of every four (26.2 percent) black adults barred from voting - a direct result of the:

state's disproportionate incarceration rate - blacks are 8% of the state's population, but 21% of the prison population - the incarceration rate for black Kentuckians is more than triple the rate for whites.

Political scientist Alan Gerber argues that the liberal voting record that black representatives (of Congress) compile does not provide a:

strong foundation for winning statewide elections and there remains some resistance for voting for blacks for higher office

The extent to which the representative acts upon this symbolism is described as?

substantive representation

Obama would not have won without the?

support of white Americans who made up the largest ethnic group in the election

According to the U.S. Census, every state is required to redraw its congressional and legislative districts every?

ten years, starting with the first decennial census in 1790

Sarah Palin's rallies were becoming increasingly caustic. Her rallies were large and her supporters were calling Obama a?

terrorist, a traitor, a socialist, and yelling racial epithets

Substantive representation says?

that a representative should act on behalf of the constituency. Within substantive discourse, there is debate about whether a representative should act as a delegate, voting as the constituency prefers, or as a trustee, voting as the representative feels is best

Congress passed the 1982 amendments to the VRA stating:

that any districting plan that had the effect of discriminating against minorities - regardless of intent - was unconstitutional

Powell v. Alabama (1932):

the 6th Amendment provides the right to counsel to anyone who cannot afford an attorney. Powell and other defendants, all blacks, were arrested after a fight on a train with a group of white youths. Two white girls who had also been on the train accused the black youths of rape. After their arrest, the black youths were not given a chance to communicate with friends or family. The judge had local lawyers represent them at at their arraignment (formally charged). Local lawyers were named to defend them but there was no chance for defendants to consult with a lawyer before the trial began. They all pleaded not guilty. All white juries found the defendants guilty and voted for the death penalty. The state supreme court upheld the verdict. On appeal, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled to overturn the decision, holding that the defendants had been denied due process of law guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942):

the Court created one very narrow legal category of speech that is not protected -"fighting words" - words that are so insulting or offensive that their very utterance causes immediate violence.

Selby Co. v. Holder:

the Court nullified a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act (Section 5) used to police racially discriminatory election practices in some parts of the country.

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964):

the New York Times newspaper printed an advertisement paid for by civil rights groups soliciting funds. The ad stated, in part, that police in Montgomery, AL, had conducted a "wave of terror" against student protestors. Sullivan, the police commissioner, contended that the ad contained statements that were untrue, and that he had been libeled. An Alabama court awarded him damages of $500,000. On appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the court 9-0 decided against Sullivan. It held that criticism against public officials - like criticism of the government - is a basic First Amendment right. The fact that the ad contained some errors did not matter. The court reasoned that if citizens could be sued for "good faith" criticism of public officials it might discourage newspapers from providing an important outlet for . . . Information and ideas by persons who do not themselves have access to publishing facilities.

Democrats became disadvantaged because in the 2010 elections (the TEA Party ascendancy):

the Republicans regained a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and they captured both Houses of the state legislatures in a majority of the states legislatures around the country that draw congressional districts

From 1932 to 1944, FDR carried every Southern state. In 1948, four of the five Deep South states (AL, LA, MS, and SC) for Democratic governor Strom Thurmond of SC formed:

the States' Rights Party, or Dixiecrats

Breedlove v. Shuttles (1937)

the Supreme Court found that poll taxes did not violate any rights protected by the Constitution.

Coker v. Georgia (1977):

the Supreme Court held that the death penalty for rape violated the 8th amendment. By 1976, public opinion firmly supported the death penalty

Strauder v. West Virginia (1880):

the Supreme Court held that the trial of a black defendant by a jury from which all blacks by law were systematically excluded from all juries is a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment

In Shaw I, the court had remanded the case to the federal district court. The district court found that the state had a compelling interest in designing its districting plan and the district was narrowly tailored to its purpose. On appeal, (Shaw II-1996):

the Supreme Court rejected the state's compelling interest argument. What were the state's arguments? 1. It (the legislature) was seeking to eradicate the effects of past and present discrimination. The Court rejected this claim. 2. It created the district in order to comply with Section 5 of the VRA. The Court dismissed the DOJ's interpretation of Section 5. 3. It created the district to comply with Section 2 of the VRA. The Court concluded that the tortured shape of District 12 did not contain a geographically compact population of any race.

M. Hunt v. Cromartie:

the Supreme Court ruled that the state was able to justify the new boundaries of the 12th district by showing that it was intended to create a safe seat for Democrats, and therefore the redrawn district was a constitutional example of political gerrymandering and not racial gerrymandering. Justice O'Connor acted as the swing vote, satisfied with the change in reasoning since Shaw v. Reno.

U.S. v. Eichman (1990):

the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that federal law as unconstitutional. Justice Brennan writing for the majority recognized that flag desecration was offensive to many people but argued that "punishing such desecration of the flag dilutes the very freedom that makes this emblem so revered, and worth revering." The dissent focused on the symbolic value of the flag and it argued that the government did have a "legitimate interest in protecting . . . the American flag."

Even gatherings where the demonstrators are peaceable, bystanders may become angry or even violent. This situation is sometimes termed the "heckler's veto.":

the ability of hostile onlookers (hecklers) to disrupt a peaceful speech or assembly by jeering, shouting insults, or physically interfering with demonstrators. By threatening violence an angry crowd can force police to stop an otherwise lawful assembly in order to protect public safety or welfare.

According to journalists Todd and Gawiser, the key to Obama's victory was:

the baby boom generation

Journalist and PBS correspondent Gwen Iffil has written a book titled The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, where she asserts that:

the black political structure formed during the civil rights movement is giving way to a new generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1950s and 1960s

Grayned v. City of Rockford (1972):

the case involved a demonstration of 200 public school students, families, and friends to protest the racially discriminatory practices and policies at a public high school in Rockford, IL. Grayned was arrested, tried, and convicted for violating, through his participation, the city's anti-picketing and anti-noise ordinances. Grayned appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court agreed that the anti-picketing ordinance was unconstitutional but the court rejected appellant's (one who brings the lawsuit on appeal) claims that the anti-noise ordinance was, on its face, both vague and overbroad and unconstitutional. The Supreme Court went on to say that its earlier cases had made equally clear . . . That reasonable 'time, place, and manner' regulations may be necessary to further significant governmental interests and are permitted.

Both the majority and dissent in Ashcroft cite an article by Richard Pildes that looks at social science data to demonstrate:

the change that would permit the reduction of safe districts (some see progress - reduction in racially polarized voting, etc., while others see Ashcroft as a means of diluting the black vote).

Shaw I (1993):

the court announced its new objective of enforcing a color-blind approach to electoral districting. After the 1990 US Census, and reapportionment process, NC gained one seat due to population growth in the state. NC submitted its redistricting plan to DOJ for preclearance since it is a "covered Jurisdiction" under the VRA of 1965. The state had a 22% black population at that time, so it created one majority black district out of its 12 congressional districts. DOJ rejected this plan because they felt that NC had a large enough black population that it could create two majority black districts. NC created a second congressional map with two majority black districts, the 1st, and the 12th. White voters challenged the second majority black district drawn, the 12th, arguing that the district was drawn to secure the election of additional black representatives (remember that race is a suspect class) and violated their constitutional right (14th Amendment - equal protection) to participate in a color-blind electoral process. The district court stated the plaintiffs failed to state a constitutional claim, and the residents appealed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari. After concluding the residents' claim did give rise to an equal protection challenge, the Court remanded - adding that in the absence of contradictory evidence, the District Court would have to decide whether or not some compelling governmental interest justified N.C.'s plan.

Gary v. Sanders (1963)

the court ruled that in statewide primary elections for U.S. senators, each person's vote must count equally

The disputed presidential election of 1876, settled by the Hayes-Tilden Compromise, spelled?

the death knell for African American electoral success in the South

Barack Obama was:

the first African American candidate with a realistic chance of winning the presidency in the U.S. of A

Gender became an issue in the campaign. The Democratic primary featured a first:

the first serious African American and the first woman seriously vying to be the party's nominee

The concept of representation lies at?

the heart of democracy

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988):

the issue in this case was prior restraint. Three students had written an article for the school newspaper that discussed pregnancies of three students and the impact of divorce. The principal removed the articles from publication because he felt they would identify the students and contained content inappropriate for younger students. The court noted that the case differed from Tinker. The public may perceive the publication to bear the imprimatur of the school.

Habeas:

the mechanism by which a person convicted in state or federal court may petition the federal courts for review of a conviction or sentence on the grounds that it was unconstitutionally obtained

Republicans would go on to win all but one of:

the next six presidential elections

Most of the industrialized world -western society (wealthy, stable, functional democracies) have outlawed the death penalty minus:

the only countries to execute more people are China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Pakistan

According to the American Bar Association, the "inadequacy and inadequate compensation of counsel at trial" (public defenders are overworked, underpaid, incompetent, etc.)is one of:

the principal failings of the capital punishment system in the US.

L. Bush v. Vera (1996):

the state of Texas was entitled to three additional districts after the 1990 census. The legislature drew three additional districts (two majority black and the other majority Latino). Six white voters challenged 24 of the 30 districts on racial gerrymandering grounds. Plaintiffs only had standing in three districts. The Court invalidated all three districts. The Court relied on Miller in striking down all three districts. The state's three compelling interests were the same as in Shaw II. O'Connor rejected the state's argument that the districts were created to remedy past and present racial discrimination. The Court said the discrimination that the state seeks to remedy must be specific, identified discrimination; second, the state must have a strong basis in evidence to conclude that remedial action was necessary, before it embarks on an affirmative action program. O'Connor found that Section 5 did not require maximizing majority minority districts.

The Democrats chose Denver, CO, as their convention site because?

the state was a battleground state

The Terry decision now allows police to "stop and frisk" if they believe:

the suspect is armed or dangerous, or have a "reasonable suspicion" that a crime is about to take place. (It lowers the standard from belief to suspicion - more than a hunch).

the odds of receiving the death penalty are four times greater if?

the victim is white

Strong opposition to Obama was limited to several demographic groups. While much of the opposition came from the white working-class, this opposition cannot be attributed simply to racism:

these Reagan Democrats have been voting for years against the party's white candidates notes political scientist Gerald Pomper

The Supreme Court has refused to find multi-member districts a per se violation of equal protection. But it has acknowledged that:

they may minimize or cancel out the voting strength of racial or political elements of the voting population

Obama volunteers were not micromanaged:

they were able to call their own shots, from organizing rallies to recruiting and training a cadre of Obama supporters to work precincts

In the presidential election of 1968, Republican candidate Richard Nixon campaigned on a platform to attract?

those disaffected Southern white voters

Howard Beach Incident:

three men who had ventured into Howard Beach in 1986 after their car broke down on a nearby highway, stopped to eat pizza at a local pizzeria. An an anonymous caller summoned the police with a report of "black trouble-makers." The patrol car that responded found no trouble and left. When the black men left the restaurant, they were attacked by a group of teenagers who beat them with baseball bats and tree limbs. One of the men was permanently blinded in the attack, and another died when he was hit by a car while trying to escape across a highway. Bell stated that at trial, the defense rested on the proposition that it is reasonable to assume that black persons can have no legitimate reasons to walk the streets of Howard Beach (a white neighborhood). The stereotype that all blacks are criminals was triggered in the minds of a white audience (and jury) to provide legal and moral justification for the attack. The press came to the defendants aid by reporting the criminal history of one of the victims, as if to say the mobs' fear was justified. (The three main defendants were convicted of manslaughter in 1987)

There were a total of:

three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. The presidential debates were filled with a lot of theatrics including "Joe the plumber."

Black women and poor women of all colors have been prosecuted for their conduct during pregnancy. In the war against drugs, fetal endangerment charges have provided a weapon for the state:

to penalize those who use drugs. Medical professionals tend to report poor women who use drugs

Obama's victory brought Americans:

together across racial lines, gender lines, occupational lines, party lines, and generational lines

The Obama campaign rejected the:

traditional top-down, command-and- control, broadcast TV model of campaigning

As the general election moved into the fall campaign, questions remained as to whether Obama could capture Latino voters and white female voters:

two groups he had difficulty attracting during the primary

Symbolic representation is the ability of a legislator to?

understand constituent needs and empathize with their concerns

Texas Republicans complained for more than a decade under the post-1990 congressional redistricting, a Democratic-drawn plan that helped Democrats hold a majority of House seats through the decade. Republican engineered a strategy to gain control of both houses of the state legislature and the governorship in 2002. Although the state legislature had redrawn new districts in 2001 for the 2002 elections, the Republicans since they now held a majority in both houses of the state legislature, decided to:

undertake the redistricting process for the second time in the decade. (Redistricting had previously only been done once a decade since 1790). Republicans asked the state Attorney General if they could do this and he said they could and so, they did.

Throughout most of the campaign, he downplayed his ethnic background, while at the same time:

using his race and relative youthfulness to reach out to entire new subsets of voting blocs

In January 1990, Robert Viktora was one of several white teenagers involved with burning a cross within the fenced yard of the home of the only black family in his St. Paul, MN, neighborhood. Viktora, a skin-head, was charged with:

violating a MN statute aimed at hate-motivated expression. The defendant argued that the statute was overbroad on its face. The trial court agreed with the petitioners. The MN Supreme Court held the statute to be valid. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction. Scalia writing for the majority, stated that "one cannot have content-based distinctions within a category of unprotected speech." Scalia said the law distinguishing varying degrees of hate, prohibiting hate speech based on race, religion, or gender, but not that based on political affiliation or sexual orientation. Other expressions designed equally to arouse anger or outrage on other bases were not prohibited.

Despite the notion that suburban voters are more conservative than city folks:

voters in older, more established inner-ring suburbs are increasingly favoring Democrats

He overcame the formidable name recognition and:

war chest of Hillary Rodham Clinton, a second-term senator whose husband had served two terms as president and had been elevated to iconic status in many Democratic communities - especially the black community

multi-member districts:

where the district's voters elect more than one representative into single member districts, the legislature instead assigns all of the representatives to the whole district, with each candidate running at-large.

Much of the hype surrounded the so-called "Bradley effect,":

whereby white voters when polled would be reluctant to respond that they were not going to vote for an African American because of fear that they would be perceived as racists

In the 1980s and the 1990s, the court confronted but gave answers to two redistricting issues:

whether to open federal courts to challenges to partisan or political gerrymandering or to racially or ethnically based line-drawing.

One major pillar of Obama's new coalition of voters for the 21st century was:

white voters with college or post- graduate degrees, many of them professional with white-collar occupations

In each realignment, a new coalition emerges and forms a majority party by?

winning over votes from its rival party and by increasing its sway among its own voters, whose ranks have increased through birth, immigration, and economic change

The Supreme Court struck down Section 5 of the VRA in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) and this is the first round of redistricting to occur?

without section 5 of the VRA

His campaign increased turnout, particularly among what group of voters?

younger than 30, connecting with them by using new media, the Internet, to create a new movement of supporters who organized, mobilized, and turned out at the polls

In applying the law to a North Carolina legislative district, the Court crafted a three-pronged test for a so-called vote dilution claim. Under Gingles v. Thornburg (1986), a minority group claiming vote dilution must show:

•a) it is sufficiently large and compact to constitute a majority in a single-member district, •b) the minority group is politically cohesive, •c) the white majority votes sufficiently as a bloc to defeat any minority candidate.

Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986):

Fraser, a high school student was punished for a lewd speech nominating a classmate at a school election assembly. He was suspended for three days and removed from the potential graduation speaker list. The court stated that such speech can be punished given the critical mission of schools to teach students appropriate behavior

In 1972, the South sent the first two blacks to Congress since Reconstruction:

GA & TX

The first to be executed since reinstatement was?

Gary Gilmore who was executed by firing squad in Utah

Miller v. Johnson (1995):

Georgia had one majority black district, the 5th- Atlanta, and because of population gains it gained one congressional district and its congressional seats grew from 10 to 11 after the 1990 reapportionment process. It created one new majority black district in 1992 to go along with the one majority black district it already had for a total of two majority black districts. At time, the state also fell under Section 5 of the VRA and was required to seek DOJ approval before enacting any districting plan. The state submitted its proposed plan that created one new majority black district. The DOJ rejected this plan which caused the state to create a second new majority black district, the 2nd and the 11th (for a total of three majority black districts). White voters in the 11th district filed suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the district based on Shaw under the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and because of its unusually designed shape. The court creates a new test in Miller: whether the use of race is the predominant factor in drawing a congressional district? If it is, then the district is unconstitutional. In Miller the majority (5-4) held that evidence that a legislature had used race as the "predominant" or controlling rationale for redistricting was enough to state a claim under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Using as its new test "race as a predominant factor," the court concluded that race was the predominant rationale behind the Miller redistricting plan.

GOP:

Grand Old Party, Republican Party

Gregg v. Georgia (1976):

Gregg shot and killed two men who had given him a ride hitchhiking, then took their money and car. The Georgia trial jury returned the sentence of death and the Georgia Supreme Court reviewed the case and found that the jury had not imposed the death penalty because of racial prejudice or any other arbitrary factor. The state court affirmed the death sentences on the murder charges. The US Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. The defendant claimed that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment, violating the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution. By a vote of 7-2, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty as constitutional under the 8th and 14th amendments.

Congress stripped the presence of what for prisoners on death row:

Habeas protection

President Harry Truman helped to contribute to this climate:

He appointed a biracial committee to examine the condition of civil rights and to make recommendations for improvement. The committee issued a report titled "To Secure These Rights" which called for a positive program to strengthen civil rights including the elimination of segregation based on race, creed, or national origin, from American life

Martin King in his "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail" tries to address the issue by distinguishing between just laws and unjust laws:

He would obey just laws because they square with moral law or the law of God but he would disobey unjust laws because they are out of harmony with moral law. King chose to disobey unjust laws because they were morally reprehensible.

Reynolds v. Sims (1964)

Held that "one person, one vote" must apply to apportionment of both houses of a state legislature.

Unlike his Democratic predecessors, Obama saw the South as fertile ground and he aggressively courted it:

His campaign held major voter registration drives in the South and ran campaign ads heavily in FL, GA, NC, and VA

Obama also attracted?

Hispanics and African Americans of all ages in record numbers

Schenck v. U.S. (1919):

In 1918 Charles Schenck, an official of the Socialist Party was convicted under the Espionage Act for printing and mailing 15,000 pamphlets urging men to evade the draft. He appealed his conviction on First Amendment grounds. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction stating that this behavior would ordinarily be protected but not during a time of war where they may present a "clear and present danger" that Congress has a right to prevent.

United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg v. Carey (1977)

In 1972, the New York State legislature redrew Brooklyn's state senate and assembly districts so that several would have black and Puerto Rican majorities ranging from 65 to 90 percent. In doing this, the legislature divided a cohesive community of 30,000 Hasidic Jews between two assembly and two senate districts in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, where previously they had been located within single districts. Thus, a district that was about 61 percent nonwhite under the 1972 plan was altered to the 65 percent figure. United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg filed suit, claiming the legislature's actions violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. In a 7-1 decision, the Supreme Court rejected the claims of the Hasidic Jews, holding that deliberate creation of majority minority legislative districts was not reverse discrimination and therefore did not violate the equal rights of Brooklyn's white voters

The governing body of Skokie, Illinois, in an effort to avoid spectator intimidation and possible violence, sought an injunction to restrain the defendant, a neo-Nazi organization, from conducting a demonstration in that town. Skokie was a Jewish suburb of Chicago. Many residents were survivors of the Holocaust and had been in Nazi concentration campus during WWII:

In an effort to stop the NSPA members, the circuit court of Cook County issued a decree that enjoined the defendants from engaging in any of the following acts within the village of Skokie: marching, walking, or parading in the uniform of the National Socialist Party of America, . . . displaying the swastika, on or off their person; distributing pamphlets or hate material . . . On appeal, the appellate court of Illinois upheld only that portion of the injunction decree which prohibited the wearing or display of swastikas, holding that such display fell within the "fighting words" exception to free speech. The Illinois Supreme Court rejected that theory and held that the use of the swastika is a symbolic form of free speech entitled to first amendment protections.

Bandemer v. Davis (1986):

Indiana Democrats challenged a state redistricting plan drawn by Republicans. The court said the suit presented a justiciable claim - one the federal courts could hear but the Court gave no guidance as to when partisan gerrymandering was unconstitutional.

The Rainbow Coalition:

Jesse Jackson's idea of forging an alliance between groups of minorities and the disadvantaged

On August 23, 2008, he announced his selection of Senator:

Joe Biden of Delaware, as his vice presidential running mate

USA Freedom Act was enacted on:

June 2, 2015 which restored in modified form several provisions of the Patriot Act which expired June 1, 2015.

Who has the third highest disenfranchisement rate in the country?

Kentucky

Clinton's coalition included:

Latinos, women, and non-educated whites (for the most part)

The response to black musicians typifies the hostile response of predominantly white judges to typically black modes of expression:

Little Richard sang of teenage pregnancy and interracial dating in the 1950s and 1960s was an early victim of private censorship by radio stations who refused to play him. Black records were labeled by whites as "race music" and coded with an "R" at the radio stations. Blacks could not sing to integrated audiences and black singers could not look at white women when they sang love songs. Nat Cole was attacked in Birmingham by white racists.